Tell Him You're Not Weak
by HoshiToTsuki
Summary: When Drew calls May weak for loving her pokemon, she's hurt. But Ash has a plan, and his plan is to have them apologize to each other. But seeing them as friends, makes him remember a certain redhead who he made a promise to so long ago.
1. Beach Stones

"I'm not weak, I'm not weak because I love my Pokemon," May told herself for the millionth time, as she walked along the beach, watching the ocean, reds, oranges, and in places yellow from the setting sun.

"Ash loves his pokemon, and he's definitely not weak. None of us are weak. Only people who call each other weak, and they aren't either. They're just really insecure," she looked down at the sand. No matter how many times she said that, it still didn't eliminate the pain. She knew that herself and Drew were rivals, but, she'd thought that they could maybe like each other too.

"I guess that was just foolish wishing," May blinked back a couple tears. 'Drew doesn't matter! I don't care what he thinks!' but she knew it was a lie. She needed his approval, his complement, just so she would know that she really was good.

"May!?," she heard Ash's voice behind her. Turning around, she quickly wiped her eyes.

"Hi, Ash, what's up? Oh, hi, Drew," she said, noticing the green haired boy next to him, looking uncomfortable.

"Hi," he said, looking at his feet.

"I'm gunna leave you two to talk, about…stuff…?," Ash thought about that for a second, then walked off, "See ya later, May."

"See you, Ash," she watched the boy walk off, his pikachu trotting obediently at his side.

"What is it, Drew?," she asked, turning around and picking a seashell up off the sand.

"I wanted to… apologize, for what I said earlier," he told her, looking up at her and picking up his own shell.

"It wasn't nice for you to say that. It's not bad to love your pokemon. Maybe, if you loved your pokemon, you wouldn't think they did poorly in battle," she said, looking out towards the sunset.

"I just, I've learned not to become attached to things," he told her, turning away.

"Hmm?," she asked, wondering what he meant.

"I don't want to talk about it," he told her, his green hair blowing in the breeze coming off the sea.

"Are you sure? If you ever want to tell someone, I'm your girl," she said honestly.

'I wish,' he thought. "Well, if you have to know. When I was a little kid, I had a nice big nine tails. I guess it was abandoned, and it was really dirty and sick and old. I found it out in the woods, and it looked like it was going to die. Helped him get better. I loved that nine tails, he followed me everywhere, and never left my side. Like I said, the pokemon was old. And even pokemon die. I haven't loved a pokemon since, and I've never found one anything like him," Drew told her, his face expressionless.

"I'm sorry. I had no idea," she said.

"It's okay. Anyway, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have spoken to you that way," he apologized, looking her in the eyes sadly.

"It's okay. We all lose our temper at times," she told him, tossing the shell in the air and watching it fall back into her palm.

"I guess I realized, that I'm the weak one. I never got over the death of the nine tails, and that kept me from doing my best," he told her, wiping an eye.

May felt bad, she walked over to him, and took his hand reassuringly. He looked up at her, startled.

"Don't worry. You'll understand, people learn at different rates. You can love your pokemon, you just need to let yourself," she told him.

"Good luck tomorrow, bye the way," he told her, taking her hand in turn, and looking out at the setting sun. She looked, too.

"Thanks, you too," she told him. After looking out over the water in silence for a while, May had to break the silence. "It's beautiful," she said.

"Yeah, it is," he said, gazing at her. She glanced to the side at him, and caught him looking at her.

"I better be going, Ash and Brock will worry," she said.

"Oh, okay," he told her, releasing her hand. As she said goodbye and turned to walk away, Drew caught her wrist.

"May, here, good luck, tomorrow," he said, handing her his seashell.

"Thank you," she said, taking the seashell and at the same time kissing his cheek. She slipped her own shell into his hand.

"Goodnight," she whispered, turning away with a smile and walking back towards the road.

"Goodnight," he said quietly, holding his cheek, and wondering if that had really happened.

Ash had been watching from the road, and he was grinning, happy to see that May and Drew had resolved some of their differences. And they were holding hands! Huge change from before when they were screaming at each other.

But then May kissed Drew, and Ash was reminded painfully of a girl from his not to far away past, who's hair was the color of the disappearing sun.

"I miss you, Misty," Ash whispered, as he remembered Misty's friendly, cute face. "I'll come back, just like I promised," he told the setting sun.

THE END.

Sorry for writing yet another one shot, but I love them! They are so easy, especially after you see an inspirational episode. I have loved pokemon since preschool. Go pokemon! Reviews very welcome, VERY welcome.


	2. The Beef Kind With Vegetables

A.N. Well, two people told me to continue it, and you know what, I've been wanting to all along, so here it is!

After the tournament, after May and Drew had lost, they had decided to be friends, or at least, they had decided to be closer than they were before. Brok, Ash, and Max decided to take the two out for (what else?) Ramen!

"Mmm, this is good Ramen, guys. Thanks for bringing us out!," May said, eating some more from her bowl. Drew nodded in agreement. Ash laughed.

"Misty liked Ramen, too. The beef kind, though, with vegetables in it. Don't ask, I never understood some things about her," Ash said, his face dropping.

"Ah, that hit the spot!," May exclaimed, putting her bowl down after she drank the broth.

"Glad you liked it. We haven't been here for a while," Brok said.

"I need to… go to the bathroom," Ash said standing up. He was feeling a bit teary thinking about Misty, he'd been thinking of her a lot, lately.

"Okay," Max said, and they all went back to eating. In his hurry to get to the bathroom, he bumped into something, or rather, someone. She tripped and fell against him, and he caught her quickly s she wouldn't fall.

"Sorry! I should have watched where I was going. Excuse…," his voice trailed off, he felt something wet beginning to soak through his thin T-shirt, and realized he was still holding onto the girl.

"Ash?," a soft voice asked him.

"Um, yes," Ash was confused now. The girl stood up, and looked at him.

"Misty! Oh my Gosh, what are you doing here?," Ash asked. He couldn't believe he hadn't recognized her immediately.

"Oh my gosh, Ash, I can't believe it's you," she was definitely crying now as she hugged him and he hugged her back tightly. "I haven't seen you in so long, I thought you said you would come back!"

"Misty, I was, the tournament just ended this afternoon. I guess you came to me though, huh?," he asked with a chuckle. He felt like he was going to cry, too, but didn't.

"What are you doing here, then? I didn't see you in the restaurant!," Misty composed herself as she stood up straight, wiping her eyes.

"I should ask you that! We, that is Brok, Max and I, were bringing Drew and May out for dinner after their matches. What _are _you doing here, by the way?," he asked her.

"My sisters are near this town, and they sent for me. It seems that they sent another one of my sisters home to watch the gym," Misty explained. "I was just stopping for dinner and a place to sleep for the night."

"Well, are you alone? You can join us, or are you already eating?," he asked.

"Actually, I haven't even sat down yet, so, sure. I'd like to meet your new friends," Misty smiled and they turned to reenter the dining area.

"Hey, guys, look who I found," Ash said, as he pulled up a chair for Misty and sat down after she did.

"Misty! What are you doing here?," Brok asked excitedly, giving her a quick hug.

"I was just stopping by for dinner in here, and Ash bumped into me going into the bathroom, literally," Misty laughed.

"May, Max, Drew, this is Misty. Misty, this is May, Max, and Drew," Ash introduced them.

"Nice to meet you!," Misty smiled.

"Oh my gosh! This is Misty!? I've heard so much about you, you have to tell me everything about what it's like to run a gym!," May got starry eyed as she started to talk to Misty.

Ash couldn't stop looking at the two of them, especially Misty, luckily nobody noticed.

_Wow, it's been forever since I saw her. But, she's even prettier than last time. _He blushed at the thought. He knew Misty liked him, but he wasn't about to voice those thoughts aloud. _You're acting so, so wrong! She's your friend, don't go getting thoughts about her that will ruin your relationship. _

"Ash! Ash! Do you want more food, or not?" Brok was waving his hand in the younger boy's face trying to get him to listen.

"Huh? Oh, yeah. Since when have I not wanted more food?" Ash laughed, rubbing the back of his neck. Misty grinned at the side of his face, because he was sitting to her right. She was glad to see that at least his appetite hadn't changed.

He saw her grinning from his peripheral vision, and turned to glance at her a little. She blushed and quickly looked away at his glance, embarresed that he'd seen her looking at him.

When everybody was finished eating, and they had paid the bill, (of course they all made Brok pay, though) the group decided it was getting late and they'd better be going their separate ways. Drew went off to wherever Drew goes, after waving good bye to May, who blushed madly.

"Well, Misty, it was really awesome seeing you again! Will you try to get in touch soon?" Brok asked her, hugging her in a brotherly way.

"Of course! It was nice meeting you guys!" everybody said there farewells, and the others (Max, Misty, and Brok) headed inside, complaining of being cold.

"Misty, it was really, really nice to see you again," Ash told her.

"I'm glad I got to see you again, too. It's been almost a year now, hasn't it?" Misty replied. To both of their surprise, they found that they were walking down the street, away from the hotel. They were side by side, their steps in unison, and their hands dangling at their sides, unusually close together.

"Yeah, almost a year since…" Ash's voice trailed off as he remembered the evening, so much like this one, that they had last seen each other. "Where is it that you're staying? Because I might as well walk you there, now," Ash said to change the subject quickly.

"A few blocks from here," Misty said. Ash looked over at her, and she smiled at him. "You don't have to walk me there, if you don't really want to," she said.

"I want to," he said flatly, but with a tiny hint of enthusiasm. She giggled and hugged his arm, causing him to blush and turn away a little bit.

"Oh, and since when has Ash become such a gentlemen?" she asked with another giggle.

"I guess since I met you again," he mumbled, but loud enough for her to hear. And with that, he gave her a quick kiss on the top of the head.

**THE END**

A.N. Okay, so I hope you liked the second chapter!!! One of these days I WILL write a oneshot!!! Bye bye, and remember, review!!!


End file.
